Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine
The Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine was adopted on July 16, 1990 by the recently elected parliament of Ukrainian SSR by a vote of 355 for and four against.
The document decreed that Ukrainian SSR laws took precedence over the laws of the USSR, and declared that the Ukrainian SSR would maintain its own army and its own national bank with the power to introduce its own currency. The declaration also proclaimed that the republic has intent to become in a future "a permanently neutral state that does not participate in military blocs," and that it would not accept, nor produce and nor procure nuclear weapons.
Shortly before Ukraine had done it other Soviet republics had also proclaimed their sovereignty; these being Moldavia, Russia and Uzbekistan.
The Declaration established the principles of Self-Determination of the Ukrainian Nation, Rule of the People, State Power, Citizenship of the Ukrainian SSR, Territorial Supremacy, Economic Independence, Environmental Safety, Cultural Development, External and Internal Security, and International Relations.
Also on July 16, 1990 parliament by a vote of 339 for and five against proclaimed July 16 a national holiday in Ukraine. And it created Ukrainian SSR citizenship while guaranteeing citizens the right to retain USSR citizenship, approving this by a vote of 296 for and 26 against.
